VT College of Science Magazine Spring 2011 | Page 3

RIsING To THe CHALLeNGe
Currently, the U.S. is not
graduating enough engineers
and scientists to fill the
nation’s need for talent in
technical fields.

o f

In fact, out of a pool of 4 million ninth graders across the
country in 2001, 1 million of them went on to college, and
300,000 of them majored in science, technology, engineering,
or mathematics (STEM) fields. This spring, however, that
number will drop to only 167,000 STEM graduates.*

S C i e n C e

Dean, College of Science

C o l l e g e

Lay Nam Chang

1

M a g a z i n e

This is a sobering statistic. Our nation’s economy and
competitive advantage in the world market both depend
upon a workforce trained in STEM fields.

MESSAGE
FROM
THE DEAN

Issue No.10 sPRING 2011

I am pleased to tell you about some of our initiatives that
will move the college ahead, as we address the challenges in
front of us in what many would call a crisis in our education
system. We believe we can carve a niche for ourselves that will
make us one of the most competitive science programs in the
country.
We are developing several new programs that will recruit
more students into STEM fields, help them learn in new and
exciting ways, and train them to be critical thinkers, problemsolvers, team players, and excellent communicators. These
are qualifications that employers and recruiters expect of our
graduates.
With our integrated science curriculum, which is in the planning stages (see STEM, page 2), our undergraduates will not
only meet foundational learning outcomes but will also make
connections between the various science disciplines. The
core tracts of nanotechnology, neuroscience, computational
science, and systems biology will encompass a number of
different science courses in addition to the tract’s main focus.
Students will emerge from the program with comprehensive
technical knowledge and hands-on research experience.
Our newly designed SCALE-UP classroom (see SCALE-UP, page
4) has proven to be a highly successful, innovative learning
environment. I wish to acknowledge Robert Beichner, American Council on Education Fellow, visiting professor in physics
from North Carolina State University, and creator of the SCALEUP concept. He provided his experience and knowledge about
the classroom to help us prepare it to be fully functional by
the start of fall semester.

And finally, the Center for Talented Youth event (see Center
for Talented Youth, page 3), held on the Virginia Tech campus
last fall, was a tremendous success. One hundred secondary
school students left with a better understanding of some
of the STEM fields as well as an excitement for the world of
science. The event also gave parents a better understanding of
the college application process and the potential for financial
aid.
The STEM challenge is a huge one. It is one, however, that I
am confident we can rise above, and in doing so, make an
international name for ourselves.
* National Center for Education Statistics;
Digest of Education Statistics